Silvy: Windsor coach took it easy on me on the volleyball court

Jun. 24, 2013

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Coach LaVerne Huston and her 22 years of experience make sure of that. So it wasn’t a surprise to see the Wizards going through drills at breakneck pace while Huston shouted instruction from the sidelines.

It won’t be a surprise if this newest group of Wizards is able to make a dent at the state tournament, like so many teams before, despite losing key seniors, including libero Taylor Pribble and outside hitter Angie Pancost. They helped Windsor to a fifth-place finish at the Class 4A State Volleyball Championships last season.

That team went 23-4, including a perfect 14-0 mark in 4A Tri-Valley play. I couldn’t think of a better team, or coach, to spend some time with learning the ropes — or nets — when it comes to high school volleyball.

When I got to practice at 10:30 a.m., the Wizards still had a half-hour left. Huston was working with freshmen and other newbies on the far court. Poor them.

For every bunny they let drop, Huston had the group drop for 10 pushups. My idea of a fun day on the volleyball court was shattered. I was going to have to do pushups? I mean, I was going to have to do pushups. If Huston held me to the same standard, there was no doubt in my mind I’d be dropping to give her 10 ... or 1,000 at some point.

Huston told me over the phone that summer practices are pretty laid back, so there was no problem with me stopping by to bother the Wizards for a few minutes. The fact that I was seeing a “laid back” and “fun” practice session reinforced why these Wizards are consistently strong during the fall season. It also begged the question: What does a fall practice look like?

Once the laid-back practice wrapped up, it was time for some real fun — at my expense. We went through drills with names like “butterfly” and “Russian.” Contrary to my initial thoughts, the goal in “butterfly” is not to be as graceful as the beautiful bug. That’s good. I wasn’t.

It was a warmup in which the positions of the players on both sides of the net resembled the shape of a butterfly. I was instructed to bump the ball to a player near the net, then take that player’s place and continue ad nauseam. I got lost on the brightly lit court more than a few times.

The final drill was “Russian,” which the girls were eager to play. Basically, the drill took something I was bad at — volleyball — and doubled it — two-ball volleyball. The silver lining was Huston kept reminding her girls to play nice. I think that was code for, “Don’t hit the out-of-shape journalist in the face.”

I am forever grateful. When asked if the Wizards ever play nice with other teams, Huston laughed.

“No. Never with other teams,” she said.

I don’t envy those teams.

Tyler Silvy covers high school sports for The Coloradoan. Reach him via email at TylerSilvy@coloradoan.com or by phone at (970) 589-3829. Connect with him at Facebook.com/TylerSilvy or @TylerSilvy on Twitter.